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I have all my recipes, writing, and photos stored in Google Reader and will be slowly re-posting all of your favorite VV recipes. Unfortunately, I am unable to restore the wonderful comments that you all shared on each of my posts, but I'm sure we'll build those back up over time.

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Category “Cookies”

For every season of the TV show 24, my parents have invited all of the kids plus a few of their friends over every Monday evening for a viewing party. We all eat dinner together. Then, when the show starts, all the boys (plus me) go downstairs to watch 24 while all the ladies stay upstairs and drink tea and talk.

I really don’t like fruitcake. At all. I know this is very “un-vintage” of me. Maybe it’s the creepy little mystery bits of neon-colored candies. Or maybe it’s the dense and soggy texture. Or the weird flavors.

However, I am married to a man who loves fruitcake. So in a valiant attempt to do something sweet for my dear hubby, I decided to transform fruitcake this holiday season into something better, something yummy, or at least something not quite so creepy and mysterious.

Okay, so there’s a story behind the name of these cookies. I got this wonderfully delicious cookie recipe from the lovely, talented, and resourceful friend Hayley because I was looking for a festive cookie to take to a tailgating party before a Georgia Bulldogs football game. (Go Dawgs!) My hubby saw me making these the morning of the party, and when he saw me rolling the chocolate balls of dough in red sprinkles, he said, “What are you making?!? Dawg balls?!?” And I said, “Yes!”

When I was growing up, every year we would make Christmas Cut-Outs and leave some by the fireplace for Santa. I have a shortbread recipe that I love to use for cutouts (I’ll post this before Christmas, don’t worry), but over the past few years, I’ve grown quite fond of Alton Brown’s Sugar Cookie Recipe.

Okay, okay, I know it’s silly, but it’s a family joke to call these cookies “Gingies” – I think when my little brother was, well, little, we put “y” at the end of every word, and we never stopped even though he’s 21 years old now!

This recipe has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. In high school, I gave these out with a recipe card to all of my girlfriends. It’s the best recipe I’ve found for making gingerbread that is soft and chewy instead of dry and crispy.

Here they are – my dad’s favorite cookies! I hadn’t made these in almost 10 years, but when we decided to have a little Christmas gathering this year, and it was going to be my dad’s very first time seeing where my husband and I live, I knew I had to make something special just for him.

This is a great old-fashioned recipe for melt-in-your-mouth cookies that cook on the stove and then set up on wax paper. There is nothing in the world like enjoying one of these tender, chewy, chocolatey gobs of goodness fresh off the wax paper, when they are still just a tiny bit warm. This is an easy recipe to make, even for beginners – but people are always wowed by the deliciously addictive taste of these cookies!Read the rest of this entry »